1965/67 Imp pick-up (removing O/S/R wing from half-Imp)

[foxy99]

Hi folks.

This project is my 'life's work' so am not exactly sure why I'm starting on it today. Maybe it's a New Year thing.... 

I've told the backstory in detail elsewhere over the years so I won't go into it all here but this link The Story tells it all.

I'm going to try and show my progress in pictures only, as far as possible, as previous threads I've done take up a load of time with writing and the pictures usually paint the picture anyway.

The engine/transaxle have been sitting on an old trailer for many years, remote from the car (which is safely stored in my barn). I pulled the trailer out the other day, as the lock-up it was in is leaky and prone to break-ins, and took it down to the barn so the engine is now next to the car.

The cylinder head is not original so am not too bothered if it gets damaged. The plugs look like they could be corroded in to the head so they may strip when I remove them but I've soaked them in ATF as this is supposed to be a great solution for things seized in alloy.

Last words for now is that I'm hoping to put the engine in and get the car running before the body is completed. Almost all restos run the opposite way. IE finish body then deal with engine/mechanics but for a change I want to try and get it running early-doors.


















      

[dikkehemaworst]

What a find! Already loving this.

[arsonist]

Those sparks look like fun! 4 foot breaker bar and WD40! I had to pull a corroded spark on my daily drive fiesta mk3 a few days ago and it sheered the bolt curse word! Thankfully I live opposite a friendly tyre/breaks shop and they popped over and had a funky tool which pulled it out. Didn't charge me either! 

[foxy99]

Well the plugs came out no problem. It might have been the ATF that did the trick or maybe they weren't seized at all.

I find for delicate jobs a 3/8" spinner is a great tool for cracking-off tight fasteners. It must act a bit like an impact-driver as it gives a quick shock rather than a lot of leverage. It works great on engine-casing screws on Japanese bikes.

Any way plugs are out. Threads look good. They are a mixture of types/brands but visually they indicate that the engine was running fine.

I then took off the and examined the carb and distributor. Apart from one mashed up jet in the carb and a stuck choke-flap there were no nasty surprises.

Mucho research when I got home says I have a Lucas 25D distributor for the Stiletto/Imp Sport (41122) which would be correct for my car as it originally had the Sport head but it is dated 13th week of 1972 and the engine had a normal head fitted to it a t some point.

The carb (Solex B30 PIH 5) is correct for a normal Imp but not for my car's original spec. I guess it was fitted with the later head.




ATF seems to have soaked-in after a day



quick 'snap' with cranked socket-bar loosened plugs easily



there were different types of plug in the head (this one is Unipart) but all looked much like this on business-end



spark-plug threads look good



little Solex carb easy to get to when engine not in car



3 x 7/16" nuts hold it onto manifold




substantial plate sits between carb and manifold just for something to attach throttle cable to



not sure if it's meant to be bent or not



head is not original to car. this number tells you what type of head it is. a later model L4 iirc



carb is correct for normal Imp


I'll post up more details pictures of the carb and distributor tonight

[MK2VR6]

Interesting thread. Got any photos of the pickup itself as it now sits? What happened to your Daimler?

[foxy99]

Hi MK2VR6. I've still got the Daimler and updated the thread a while ago as I thought I'd got me a suitable replacement engine for it but it turned out to be an HE type

However I should be taking delivery of a pukka front suspension tool this week and am gonna get the front subframe powder-coated and probably lift the engine as I now have a trailer which I can use to transport my engine-crane.

It could be a good year..

Anyway here's a nice pic of the Imp

[foxy99]

So, getting back to the ancilliaries, here are some more detailed pics of the carb (distributor later)....


Found this link carb diagram which is great (I have the middle one on the chart, 3133, incidentally) so can tell what jets etc would be correct but this would only be relevant to a non-sport head but in the meantime it's ideal.



quite a bit of dirt at throttle plate/progression holes. easy to clean in these days of sonic-cleaners and with carb off car and time to spare. not so easy if it was your daily transport to work in 1960s and car was alien to local mechanics



choke flap didn't want to move. not a good idea to force it



this actuating assy looked a bit crusty so applied some ATF and let it soak



flap now moves freely



top cover removed



no nasty surprises in float bowl



looks like someone has been in here before (accelerator/enrichment pump)




view of jets (items 28/29/30 per carb diagram) at top of carb



emulsion tube came out fine and looks clean but small (air correction?) jet next to it looks like it will be tricky to get out as head is damaged



outer jet leading to damaged one came out fine and was a little dirty but easy to wipe clean


I've also Googled re the head and I do have a late L4 type head. I need an early sport head 7010162 as my car was built from a 1965 shell and first registered early 1967. The Sport Imps were released in 1966 so I guess it would have had the head used on those models but there was a rare earlier Sport head 7010107. I'll never know which one was on my car and it will be easier (but not easy) to source a 7010162 so I'll go with that. This link gives details about the heads Imp heads

[actionslaxx]

Hi foxy why don't you bolt your carbs onto the HE engine ? I bet it would run fine.

[Bibbles]

Never knew there was an Imp pick up. Love it.

Cant wait to see more.

[foxy99]

Jan 6, 2016 15:54:30 GMT actionslaxx said:

Hi foxy why don't you bolt your carbs onto the HE engine ? I bet it would run fine.

Hi actionslaxx. I'd love to do that but consensus from ppl on the VDP thread (and an XJ Facebook page) was that it wasn't likely to work well. The other problem is that the bellhousing on the HE engine is damaged badly. I reckon stripping the HE down will teach me enough to un-seize my original.

[foxy99]

Jan 6, 2016 17:07:04 GMT Bibbles said:

Never knew there was an Imp pick up. Love it.

Cant wait to see more.

Hi Bibbles. Yes there was never officialy one but mine is the nearest you'll get to it. I did a lot of research into it in the late 80s when I got Lonesome George (as I call him being green and the only one of his type) and this is all detailed in The Story but basically the Sales Manager of Rootes North America (John T Panks) lived in Banbury, Oxon and got the guys in the Rootes Competition Dept to make it as a present for his wife. That's why it also got the Sport head, Minlite wheels, Armstrong adjustable shocks etc.

[foxy99]

and so to the distributor....

There is an amazing amount of info online regarding the Lucas distributors. The Imp range used a popular 25D type but within this range there are possibly hundreds of models/permutations. The difference between them seems to be primarily the springs/weights which control the advance/retard and the vacuum unit which is also connected with this.

As mentioned above mine is from 1972 so definitely not original to my car but it is for the Stiletto which was essentially an Imp Sport mechanically so perhaps it will match my Sport head/twin Strombergs perfectly should I get them. Meantime it's probably no good for the standard head and Solex.

I did notice however that the consensus of opinion seems to be that all the hard work done by Lucas BITD to match their units to every conceivable car variant is now redundant due to modern fuels and your best bet is to stick various ones on and see what works best . It doesn't sit well with me. I'm a simple copier, not a pioneer



like the plugs the leads are a mismatch of types



no real need to take to cap off....



this nut/bolt need loosened to allow unit to pull up out of steel collar





dirty from all angles



a bit messy but nothing I don't understand in here



25D denotes the basic type of distributor



this stamp tells you the exact application and week and year of production



little arrow shows which way to turn dial to advance/retard ignition with vacuum unit



points retaining-screws are always a bit chewed. usually worse than this one. they should sell them in bags of 5 imo. would it be pushing it to try and get a spark out of these points?



someone seems to have tried to get the cam off before. screw damaged but I did get it off ok however cam still stuck on



baseplate lifted out easily after undoing 2 screws




things are a bit rusty down here. will delve deeper later



looking a little cleaner am sure this could work well again


Lastly here is a link to one of the many resources out there on the 25D Lucas 25D chart

[foxy99]

ok. as promised. minimal words and mucho pictures



impulse-buy: early Imp cylinder head. £15 plus £18 P&P. well wrapped



it's for an IMP



mating face looks a little corroded



not sure exactly where this head comes in the sequence but pretty sure it's an early one



everything looks ok in here



as with cylinder head this number will ID the camshaft

[foxy99]

So in my quest to revert this Imp back to the Sport-spec that it once was I have now bought twin Stromberg CD125 carbs on the correct Imp inlet manifold.

There are a couple of bits missing/damaged but nothing too serious. I can see the bracket for the accelerator cable is bent but at least it's there. When I first checked the Parts List against the bits I acquired I assumed one bracket was missing. Twin carbs = 2 brackets? but actually the book is showing that there was a design-change to the bracket. The manifold does however have tappings for the bracket mounting-studs at both ends which is a bit weird.

I've also found out the head I bought is a late Mk1 standard head so not much use for my plan. However I just discovered that the head that's on it (casting 71981533), known as the L4, shares many features of the actual Sports head(s) and can be machined to mimic a pukka one. So if I can't find the right head (casting 7010162) I may be able to modify the L4 head.





newly-acquired twin Strombergs c/w inlet manifold for Sports Imps





3061, Front & Rear, are correct for Sports Imps (66-74)




this was in the box too




this bracket looks a bit bent



parts list illustration suggests there should be two brackets but studying data shows that bracket #63 differs from #60 in that it uses two locknuts rather than having a captive threaded part. this is to accommodate design-change to outer cable when cable #53, with integral adjuster, replaced cable #52 which had separate one #61




these things in float-bowl are adjustable jets afaik. someone's already been here



the thing in box turned out to be the accelerator-cable pulley



T-piece connecting the carbs has been cut



lots of little clips, rods etc that would look better re-zinced




I will need item 204 (take-off stub for servo) plus the hoses



number cast onto manifold looks like part no. but isn't. casting numbers look like part no.'s as they with 7 and have similar amount of digits but they aren't the same. EG part no. for this manifold is actually 7100471


So that's me got another bit of the jigsaw. Next things to source will be air-cleaner, exhaust manifold and exhaust

[foxy99]

So it's been a while since my last post, where I said next things to find would be air-cleaner, exhaust manifold and exhaust...

Well I got the manifold ages ago. Very nice one but surprised I haven't git pics of it on here

Got an air-cleaner (bit shabby) and the elbows which attach it to the carbs.

I should have an exhaust in a week or so. I won one on Ebay for about £5 but the seller won't post so I've just posted him a large box to return it in. Fingers crossed it all works out.

I also got a mint oil-cooler (£51) plus the metal oil-drain pipe (£23.69) which takes oil from the head back to the block. My engine would/should have had one of these as they were fitted to Sport engines but also the later (non-Sport) 533 heads which my engine had. Whoever changed the heads must've went to trouble of blanking the holes which surprises me. Where would a DIY guy get the correct plugs BitD?

Strangely a couple of months before buying the pipe I bought bolt c/w washers which connects the pipe to the block. It was listed as NOS and was only £5. When I got the pipe it had the bolt but only one washer so at least I've got everything needed there now.

Another bit I missed out on posting was that I got a Sport head (£100). Now there are 3 different Sport heads (according to The Imp Site www.imps4ever.info/tech/cylinderhead.html) and I thought if I ever get on it's bound to be the last type 7010180 which wouldn't be period-correct for my car so I was amazed when I found the very first type 7010107. The Imp Site says about them 'Very early Sport, may even be part of an initial run, prior to production of the 'Sport'. Destined for use on competition cars, including the dry liner 998cc 'Rallye Imps', produced from the end of 1965.'

So I think am nearly there with the Sport bits. After all this there's only really the correct distributor to find (bit of a minefield I believe) and a Sport cam & carrier. I do have a damaged Sport cam, which I got for a £1 or something, and apparently you can modify the normal carrier, to allow the Sport lobes to pass thru, but the cams seem to come up for sale quite often for around £65 and there is actually one c/w carrier on Ebay just now for £95 plus P&P. Seems quite expensive to buy it all in a one but prob a good buy.

Anyway that's us sort of up to date altho need more pics and details about some of the bits. Would need to check back on my records for what I paid for some bits. Airbox for example



found very first version of Sport head for £80 plus P&P





shabby but complete Sport airbox c/w filters



NOS(?) oil-pipe to block banjo-bolt c/w washers



slightly dented and corroded oil drain pipe



bolt from used pipe only had one washer so NOS one was a good buy





nicely refurbished oil cooler



new manifold next to carbs and damaged Sport cam

[ovimor]

If you modify an old/worn standard Cam Carrier - you will file a cut out for the taller sport lobes - danger is you start moving the Follower Caps out of the wear area and they can tilt/jam down the bore. Cams + Followers should be 'wear matched' and crappy, scratched faces will ruin the cam.

Were the followers to be lightly licked to get the flatness back that would require a resetting of the shims.

Hope to see this 'will it run/first fire up'


OVIMOR

[foxy99]

Got another bit of the Sport jigsaw-puzzle. Exhaust.

I'ts not in great condition but will def be good enough to use till something better is found/made.

I was highest bidder on Ebay at £5.50 as it was 'collection only' but I really wanted it and the guy agreed to post if he didn't need to get into any hassle with couriers etc so I sent the box and packing materials to him (£6.71) and then when he got it paid for return postage and posted him the label (£7.72).

So about £19 (and a bit of hassle) all-in.



Sport silencer



TI logo makes me think of Raleigh bicycles for some reason



mounting stud looks good



pipes to manifold are a bit worn



looks ok here too

[Darkspeed]

Let me know if you need any particular spares for those Stroms I have quite a few kicking about. I can also have a look through my box of Imp distributors and Camshafts. Unlikely I would have an early Sport 41132 dizzy though but I may well have a half decent 157 cam and possibly a carrier plus I can ask about. Is the Cam and carrier in the 533 goosed?
I am just having a clear out of my Imp engine spares shortly (engines and transaxles sold and being collected soon) so will be going through other boxes of stuff.

You state above that the 41122 is a Sport Stiletto - no doubt you found out since that's a stock MK2 HC dizzy.

Stiletto / Sport is a 41190

[crogthomas]

Could TI be 'Tube Investments'? The British company that made steel tubing.
TI also made the fancy butted seamless Reynolds tubing that would have been used in a lot of Raleigh bicycles.

[Darkspeed]

TI Bainbridge was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that logo - Probably find an advert in an old practical motorist or somesuch.